Week in Review

During the Arab Spring President Obama told Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak that he had to go. A man who was the anchor of peace in the Middle East. Since then the Middle East has grown less safe. And closer to Iran. Which hates Israel, the United States and Western Civilization.

The most organized political opposition in Egypt at the time of the Arab Spring was the Muslim Brotherhood. An organization that Mubarak had outlawed in Egypt. As they tended to agree more with Iran than they did with the Mubarak regime. When they stepped in to fill the political vacuum left by Mubarak President Obama and his fellow Democrats were quick to recognize the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Even gave them military aid. Despite their being a terrorist organization (see Saudi Arabia lists Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah as terror groups posted 3/7/2014 on UPI).

Saudi Arabia added the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah and two Syrian-based groups to its list of terrorist organizations Friday, officials said…

Abdel Latif al-Sheikh, head of the Saudi religious police, described the Brotherhood, Hezbollah, ISIS and al-Nusra Front as groups “ruled from outside to serve political purposes.”

“They are groups that fight moderate Muslims and are causing troubles around the world. This is what we consider against Islamic principles and has given a negative impression about Muslims in the West,” Sheikh said.

Here’s something you don’t hear often. Or ever. A Muslim nation speaking out against Islamist extremism. But Saudi Arabia prefers peace. Which is why they liked Hosni Mubarak. And were very unhappy seeing him go. Especially with the Muslim Brotherhood replacing the Mubarak regime. Mubarak kept the peace. The Saudis liked that. Even though they don’t much care for Israel. But they would take a peaceful world with Israel in it any day over a world without Israel if it meant having no peace.

Israel is not the source of all the unrest in the Middle East. There is a huge divide in Islam that has killed more than any war or occupation involving Israel has killed. Sunni versus Shia. Saudi Arabia is Sunni. Egypt, too. While Iran is Shia. Saudi Arabia prefers peace. Iran prefers revolution. Which is why Hosni Mubarak was good for Egypt. Saudi Arabia. Israel. The Middle East. And world peace. The Saudis understood this. Which is why they call the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. While the Obama administration does not. Which is why they gave military aid to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Politics 101

Democrats offered Enthusiastic Applause for Unsound Policy Proposals that have no Basis in Reality

President Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address was a little longer than an hour. But if you didn’t look at a clock it felt a lot longer. For it was the same tripe you hear all the time from this administration. And the political left. It was full of misleading statements. Inaccurate facts and figures. And some lies. The usual stuff you expect from the liberal left. But what was really disturbing was the enthusiastic applause for some really unsound policy proposals that have no basis in reality. Showing either how clueless these enthusiastic Democrats are about economics, business, national security, etc. Or how amoral they are in their quest for power. As they judge and implement policy not by how it will improve the lives of Americans. But how it will improve their lives in government.

If there was ever an example of what people not to have in power this state of the union theater was it. Following are excerpts from President Obama’s speech (see FULL TRANSCRIPT: Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address posted 1/28/2014 on The Washington Post). Comments and analysis follow each excerpt.

And here are the results of your efforts: the lowest unemployment rate in over five years; a rebounding housing market — (applause) — a manufacturing sector that’s adding jobs for the first time since the 1990s — (applause) — more oil produced — more oil produced at home than we buy from the rest of the world, the first time that’s happened in nearly twenty years — (applause) — our deficits cut by more than half; and for the first time — (applause) — for the first time in over a decade, business leaders around the world have declared that China is no longer the world’s number one place to invest; America is.

The total number of people who left the civilian labor force since President Obama took office is 11,301,000 (see The BLS Employment Situation Summary for December 2013 posted 1/13/2014 on PITHOCRATES). Which means the unemployment rate is meaningless. The only reason why it’s falling is that the BLS doesn’t count unemployed people who gave up looking for jobs that just aren’t there. Oil production on private land may be up. While overall oil consumption is down because of the Great Recession that just won’t end. Which is helping to keep gas prices down. Unemployed people just don’t have the money to buy gas. So they don’t. Greatly reducing the demand for gas. Thus reducing gas prices and oil imports. George W. Bush’s last deficit was $498.37 billion. President Obama’s first deficit was $1,539.22 billion. And it was over $1 trillion in 2010, 2011 and 2012. It fell to $680 billion in 2013 thanks to the sequester. But the deficit is larger now than when President Obama assumed office. The only reduction in the deficit is a reduction in the amount he increased it.

Now, as president, I’m committed to making Washington work better, and rebuilding the trust of the people who sent us here.

Really? You’re committed to rebuilding the trust of the people? Mr. “If you like your health insurance you can keep your health insurance. Period.” Otherwise known as the lie of the year. You’re going to rebuild the trust of the people? Good luck with that. What with your pants on fire and all.

Today, after four years of economic growth, corporate profits and stock prices have rarely been higher, and those at the top have never done better. But average wages have barely budged. Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled. The cold, hard fact is that even in the midst of recovery, too many Americans are working more than ever just to get by; let alone to get ahead. And too many still aren’t working at all.

Well, finally something Republicans can agree with the president about. Yes, his economic policies have benefitted Wall Street. While hurting Main Street. Finally some bipartisan agreement.

So let’s make that decision easier for more companies. Both Democrats and Republicans have argued that our tax code is riddled with wasteful, complicated loopholes that punish businesses investing here, and reward companies that keep profits abroad. Let’s flip that equation. Let’s work together to close those loopholes, end those incentives to ship jobs overseas, and lower tax rates for businesses that create jobs right here at home. (Cheers, applause.)

There are only a few reasons why businesses export jobs. And the big three are taxes, regulations and labor costs. The Obama administration wants to raise taxes. They’ve increased regulatory costs. And they support costly union labor. So everything they stand for encourages businesses to export jobs.

But — but I’ll act on my own to slash bureaucracy and streamline the permitting process for key projects, so we can get more construction workers on the job as fast as possible. (Applause.)

So how’s that approval for the Keystone XL pipeline coming along? That thing you’ve been studying since 2010? Which by the laws of arithmetic is approximately 4 years ago. Is this slashing bureaucracy and streamlining the permitting process? At this rate it would probably be quicker to elect a Republican president in 2016. You know, someone who, when it comes to economic activity, walks it while the Democrats only talk it.

We also have the chance, right now, to beat other countries in the race for the next wave of high-tech manufacturing jobs. And my administration’s launched two hubs for high-tech manufacturing in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Youngstown, Ohio, where we’ve connected businesses to research universities that can help America lead the world in advanced technologies.

Universities are in the grant business. They want as many grants as they can get to help bring money into the university. And to do so they will study anything the government wants them to. No matter how wasteful it is. While some of the biggest high-tech companies started in garages. Apple, Google, Hewlett Packard and Microsoft. To name a few. Yes, there is a lot of university-driven research. But the big innovation is more entrepreneurial. Created by people thinking up new stuff no one thought of yet. Which is the last thing you want government involved in. That same government that can’t build a website using 1990s technology.

Let’s do more to help the entrepreneurs and small business owners who create most new jobs in America. Over the past five years, my administration has made more loans to small business owners than any other. And when 98 percent of our exporters are small businesses, new trade partnerships with Europe and the Asia-Pacific will help them create even more jobs. We need to work together on tools like bipartisan trade promotion authority to protect our workers, protect our environment and open new markets to new goods stamped “Made in the USA.” (Applause.)

You want to help entrepreneurs and small business? Get rid of Obamacare. And slash tax rates. This will provide incentive. And allow them to reinvest more of their earnings to grow their business. Allowing them to create those jobs.

Now, one of the biggest factors in bringing more jobs back is our commitment to American energy. The “all the above” energy strategy I announced a few years ago is working, and today America is closer to energy independence than we have been in decades. (Applause.)

‘All of the above’ as long as it isn’t coal, oil or nuclear. But if it’s solar power and wind power they are committed to giving more tax dollars to their friends and bundlers in the green energy industry.

Meanwhile, my administration will keep working with the industry to sustain production and jobs growth while strengthening protection of our air, our water, our communities. And while we’re at it, I’ll use my authority to protect more of our pristine federal lands for future generations. (Applause.)

You can’t sustain production and jobs growth by strengthening protection of our air, water and pristine federal lands. That’s just more regulatory costs. And raising energy costs by not allowing any oil or natural gas production on those pristine federal lands. Raising energy costs by restricting supply. Which raises business costs. In addition to those new regulatory costs.

Every four minutes another American home or business goes solar, every panel pounded into place by a worker whose job can’t be outsourced. Let’s continue that progress with a smarter tax policy that stops giving $4 billion a year to fossil fuel industries that don’t need it so we can invest more in fuels of the future that do. (Cheers, applause.)

That says it all. Fossil fuels don’t need subsidies because their costs are affordable. While solar (and wind power) are so costly that they are unaffordable. Unless government heavily subsidizes them.

But the debate is settled. Climate change is a fact. (Applause.) And when our children’s children look us in the eye and ask if we did all we could to leave them a safer, more stable world, with new sources of energy, I want us to be able to say yes, we did. (Cheers, applause.)

There is no such thing as settled science. Only science that has yet to be disproved. Besides, once upon a time glaciers stretched down from the poles to near the equator. And then receded back to where they are now. All without any manmade carbon in the atmosphere to warm the planet. As we were still simple hunter and gatherers then. So if the glaciers moved more before there was manmade global warming they’ll move again regardless of what man is doing to warm the planet.

Finally, if we’re serious about economic growth, it is time to heed the call of business leaders, labor leaders, faith leaders, law enforcement — and fix our broken immigration system. (Cheers, applause.) Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have acted, and I know that members of both parties in the House want to do the same. Independent economists say immigration reform will grow our economy and shrink our deficits by almost $1 trillion in the next two decades. And for good reason: When people come here to fulfill their dreams — to study, invent, contribute to our culture — they make our country a more attractive place for businesses to locate and create jobs for everybody. So let’s get immigration reform done this year. (Cheers, applause.) Let’s get it done. It’s time.

Funny how that argument doesn’t apply to birth control and abortion. The reason we need to “fix our broken immigration system.” For if we were having babies at the rate when government created the welfare state we could pay for that welfare state today. But thanks to the Sixties, birth control, abortion and feminism women stopped having babies. Which is fine if a woman doesn’t want to. But the progressives designed the welfare state based on them being baby machines. Creating a greater number of taxpayers with each generation. So more people pay into the welfare state than collect from it. The way it must be for a Ponzi scheme to work.

That’s why I’ve been asking CEOs to give more long-term unemployed workers a fair shot at new jobs, a new chance to support their families. And in fact, this week many will come to the White House to make that commitment real.

When you raise the cost of labor (union labor, Obamacare, etc.) businesses tend to look at automating production instead of hiring that costly labor. They may not be able to do anything about the higher regulatory costs but they can do something about higher labor costs. Use more machines than people. If you want CEOs to create new jobs stop making labor so costly. And you can start with getting rid of Obamacare.

Of course, it’s not enough to train today’s workforce. We also have to prepare tomorrow’s workforce, by guaranteeing every child access to a world-class education. (Applause.)…

Five years ago we set out to change the odds for all our kids. We worked with lenders to reform student loans, and today more young people are earning college degrees than ever before. Race to the Top, with the help of governors from both parties, has helped states raise expectations and performance. Teachers and principals in schools from Tennessee to Washington, D.C., are making big strides in preparing students with the skills for the new economy — problem solving, critical thinking, science, technology, engineering, math.

Yes, more kids are going to college than ever before. But they’re going there to have fun. And to facilitate their fun many are getting easy, worthless degrees in the social sciences and humanities. Costly degrees that universities sold them promising them future riches. Enriching the university. While impoverishing their graduates. For a high-tech company has no use for these degrees. Which is why a lot of these people end up in jobs they didn’t need that costly degree to do. And our high-tech companies are using the visa program to get foreigners who have the skills they want. Problem solving, critical thinking, science, technology, engineering and math.

It requires everything from more challenging curriculums and more demanding parents to better support for teachers and new ways to measure how well our kids think, not how well they can fill in a bubble on a test. But it is worth it — and it is working.

If you want kids to do better we need to champion marriage and family more. And they should embrace religion a little more. Instead of encouraging our young women to use birth control and abortion to avoid marriage and family. And pulling every last vestige of religion from our lives. Kids growing up in a household with a mother and a father who go to church do far better on average than kids growing up in a single-parent household and don’t go to church (see Strong families steeped in Conservative Values and Traditions do Well in America posted 1/11/2014 on PITHOCRATES).

Research shows that one of the best investments we can make in a child’s life is high-quality early education. (Applause.) Last year, I asked this Congress to help states make high-quality pre-K available to every 4-year-old. And as a parent as well as a president, I repeat that request tonight.

Actually, research doesn’t show that. Yet they keep saying that. For it’s like that line in the musical Evita, “Get them while they’re young, Evita. Get them while they’re young.” The sooner they can take them away from their parents the sooner they can start turning them into Democrat voters. Such as teaching them to blame their parents for the manmade global warming that is killing the polar bears as they have no ice to rest on while eating their baby seals.

You know, today, women make up about half our workforce, but they still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. That is wrong, and in 2014, it’s an embarrassment.

Women deserve equal pay for equal work. (Cheers, applause.)

Actually, it’s closer to 91 cents (see The White House’s use of data on the gender wage gap by Glenn Kessler posted 6/5/2012 on The Washington Post). And the small difference is not due to discrimination but personal choice. When you look at aggregate wages women will make less than men. Because more women are teachers (with 3 month off without pay) than men are. Some women work fewer hours at work to spend more time with their children. While men tend to work more overtime. Men also work the more dangerous and higher paying jobs. And are more likely to belong to a union. When you compare childless, single men and women with a college degree some women are actually earning more than men. Figures don’t lie but liars figure. And for the contortions the Obama administration did here The Washington Post’s The Fact Checker gave the president one Pinocchio.

Now, women hold a majority of lower-wage jobs, but they’re not the only ones stifled by stagnant wages. Americans understand that some people will earn more money than others, and we don’t resent those who, by virtue of their efforts, achieve incredible success. That’s what America’s all about. But Americans overwhelmingly agree that no one who works full-time should ever have to raise a family in poverty. (Applause.)

In the year since I asked this Congress to raise the minimum wage, five states have passed laws to raise theirs.

You’re not going to have a lot of upward mobility when you pay people more to remain in the jobs they hate. All the talk about making college more affordable and bringing employers and community colleges together to help give people the skills they need to fill the jobs employers have is all for nothing if they just pay people more for doing an entry-level job.

Let’s do more to help Americans save for retirement. Today most workers don’t have a pension. A Social Security check often isn’t enough on its own. And while the stock market has doubled over the last five years, that doesn’t help folks who don’t have 401(k)s. That’s why tomorrow I will direct the Treasury to create a new way for working Americans to start their own retirement savings: MyRA. It’s a — it’s a new savings bond that encourages folks to build a nest egg.

Once upon a time people opened a savings account at their local bank and they saved to buy a house. And they saved for their retirement. That’s how people saved when they didn’t have a pension or a 401(k). They can’t do that today because of the Federal Reserve destroying the banking industry by keeping interest rates at zero. If the Fed stopped printing money and let investment capital come from our savings like they did before the Keynesians gave us the Federal Reserve people would be saving like we once did. And we’d stop having Great Depressions, stagflation and Great Recessions. Created by their prolonging the growth side of the business cycle. Which raises prices higher than they normally would go. Making the contraction side of the business cycle that much more painful. As those prices have a much longer way to fall than they normally would. Thanks to the Fed’s meddling with interest rates.

MyRA guarantees a decent return with no risk of losing what you put in. And if this Congress wants to help, work with me to fix an upside-down tax code that gives big tax breaks to help the wealthy save, but does little or nothing for middle-class Americans, offer every American access to an automatic IRA on the job, so they can save at work just like everybody in this chamber can.

You know why they want these MyRAs? Because they can’t stand people saving money. They love Social Security. Because they can borrow from the Social Security Trust Fund. Which is what they will do with these MyRAs. They will take this money and spend it. Filling the MyRA Trust Fund with a bunch of IOUs. Just like they do with the Social Security Trust Fund. And then provide a retirement benefit like Social Security. That is too small to live on. Whereas if we saved the money ourselves our retirement nest-egg will be much larger. And it will provide for our retirement. Unlike Social Security.

And since the most important investment many families make is their home, send me legislation that protects taxpayers from footing the bill for a housing crisis ever again, and keeps the dream of homeownership alive for future generations. (Applause.)

It was Bill Clinton that set the stage for the subprime mortgage crisis with his Policy Statement on Discrimination in Lending (see Bill Clinton created the subprime mortgage crisis with his Policy Statement on Discrimination in Lending posted 11/6/2011 on PITHOCRATES). Using the heavy hand of government to get lenders to qualify the unqualified. Then the Fed’s artificially low interest rates were the bait for the trap. Enticing people to borrow huge sums of money because those interest rates were just too good to pass up. Even if they weren’t planning to buy a house to begin with. The subprime mortgage crisis and the resulting Great Recession were government made. If we want to prevent the taxpayers from footing the bill for another housing crisis we need to get the Keynesians out of government.

Already, because of the Affordable Care Act, more than 3 million Americans under age 26 have gained coverage under their parents’ plans. (Applause.)

More than 9 million Americans have signed up for private health insurance or Medicaid coverage — 9 million. (Applause.)

The Washington Post gave this lie three Pinocchios (see Warning: Ignore claims that 3.9 million people signed up for Medicaid because of Obamacare by Glenn Kessler posted 1/16/2014 on The Washington Post). For they’re counting some 3.9 million who would have signed up anyway for Medicaid regardless of the Affordable Care Act. Also, the government was counting people who put a health care plan into their shopping cart as if they signed up for it. Which many couldn’t. As they haven’t programmed the back end of the health care website yet to actually accept payment or to pass that information on to the insurers.

And here’s another number: zero. Because of this law, no American, none, zero, can ever again be dropped or denied coverage for a pre-existing condition like asthma or back pain or cancer. (Cheers, applause.) No woman can ever be charged more just because she’s a woman. (Cheers, applause.) And we did all this while adding years to Medicare’s finances, keeping Medicare premiums flat and lowering prescription costs for millions of seniors.

That’s right. Women with reproductive systems that men don’t have won’t pay more for their health insurance than men pay for theirs. How can they do that? Simple. They just are charging men more. To cover the cost of a reproductive system they don’t have.

Citizenship means standing up for the lives that gun violence steals from us each day. I have seen the courage of parents, students, pastors, and police officers all over this country who say “we are not afraid,” and I intend to keep trying, with or without Congress, to help stop more tragedies from visiting innocent Americans in our movie theaters and our shopping malls, or schools like Sandy Hook. (Applause.)

If you take away guns from law-abiding gun owners that won’t keep dangerous people with mental health issues that want to harm people out of our movie theaters, our shopping malls or schools like Sandy Hook. For there are other ways to harm people. Just look at the Boston Marathon bombers. The people he’s talking about not only had mental health issues but they were also smart. Many were even college students. Who probably could think of other ways to hurt people. And you just can’t take away everything they might use to harm people. But you can place these people somewhere where they can’t harm anyone.

You see, in a world of complex threats, our security, our leadership depends on all elements of our power — including strong and principled diplomacy. American diplomacy has rallied more than 50 countries to prevent nuclear materials from falling into the wrong hands, and allowed us to reduce our own reliance on Cold War stockpiles.

Since President Obama assumed office he did nothing to support the Green Revolution in Iran. Which kept the hard-line Islamists in power there. He gave Egypt to the Muslim Brotherhood by telling Hosni Mubarak that he had to go. Removing the stable anchor of the Middle East. And moved Egypt closer to Iran. (The Egyptian people eventually rose up to overthrow the oppressive Muslim Brotherhood). He went to war in Libya and helped to overthrow Colonel Muammar Qaddafi. Who at the time was a quasi ally in the War on Terror. After the Iraq invasion frightened him into believing he may be next. President Obama was thanked for his Libyan war by al Qaeda with 4 dead Americans in Benghazi on the anniversary of 9/11. He waited too long to act in the Syrian civil war. Which only brought al Qaeda into the conflict. He failed to attain a status of forces agreement in Iraq. So he pulled all U.S. forces out of Iraq which has only invited al Qaeda in. And it looks like this will be repeated in Afghanistan. He blamed George W. Bush’s wars as recruitment tools for al Qaeda. While his extensive drone use is doing the same thing. Especially in Yemen. The hotbed of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. All that his diplomacy and leadership has done was to make the world a more dangerous place.

American diplomacy, backed by the threat of force, is why Syria’s chemical weapons are being eliminated. (Applause.) And we will continue to work with the international community to usher in the future the Syrian people deserve — a future free of dictatorship, terror and fear.

His diplomacy with Bashar al-Assad in Syria only gave his oppressive regime legitimacy in the civil war he was raging against his people. Making it easier for Assad to kill Syrians with conventional arms while he gives up a token amount of his chemical weapons. While also making Russia who brokered the deal the dominate player in the region.

And it is American diplomacy, backed by pressure, that has halted the progress of Iran’s nuclear program — and rolled back parts of that program — for the very first time in a decade. As we gather here tonight, Iran has begun to eliminate its stockpile of higher levels of enriched uranium.

It’s not installing advanced centrifuges. Unprecedented inspections help the world verify every day that Iran is not building a bomb. And with our allies and partners, we’re engaged in negotiations to see if we can peacefully achieve a goal we all share: preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. (Applause.)

All Iran is doing is pausing their program. And chemically altering some of their enriched uranium to meet the requirements of this diplomatic deal. But this chemical process is reversible. And they will reverse it once they get what they want. This deal makes the world no safer. If anything it makes it more dangerous. For it does not diminish the Iranian nuclear program in the least. But gives them more time to work on it as they prop up their regime with much needed supplies thanks to a relaxation of the sanctions against them.

These negotiations will be difficult; they may not succeed. We are clear-eyed about Iran’s support for terrorist organizations like Hezbollah, which threaten our allies; and we’re clear about the mistrust between our nations, mistrust that cannot be wished away. But these negotiations don’t rely on trust; any long-term deal we agree to must be based on verifiable action that convinces us and the international community that Iran is not building a nuclear bomb. If John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan could negotiate with the Soviet Union, then surely a strong and confident America can negotiate with less powerful adversaries today. (Applause.)

The sanctions that we put in place helped make this opportunity possible. But let me be clear: if this Congress sends me a new sanctions bill now that threatens to derail these talks, I will veto it. (Applause.) For the sake of our national security, we must give diplomacy a chance to succeed.

The Soviet Union never attacked U.S. soil. And there was a reason they didn’t. They were rational. And knew they would lose a great deal in a war with America. Especially a nuclear one. Which is why they never used their nuclear weapons. But Iran giving a nuclear weapon to a shadowy group that is not a state? With little to lose in using a nuclear weapon? If it’s not a nuclear missile there will be no way in knowing where the nuclear bomb came from. We can have our suspicions that Iran made it and gave it to someone. But do we nuke Iran over that? What if there are more nukes in the hands of al Qaeda, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, etc.? You could nuke Iran back to the Stone Age but it won’t stop those others being used. The president insists this will not happen as Iran signed an agreement. The only problem with that is the Iranians are liars. And they call the United States the Great Satan. These two facts suggest that replacing those sanctions with a promise not to build nuclear bombs was probably not a wise trade.

But for more than two hundred years, we have put those things aside and placed our collective shoulder to the wheel of progress: to create and build and expand the possibilities of individual achievement; to free other nations from tyranny and fear; to promote justice and fairness and equality under the law, so that the words set to paper by our founders are made real for every citizen.

Use our collective shoulder to expand individual achievement? The president believes in the former more than the latter. He didn’t help the Iranians get free from tyranny when he had the chance. And he turned the Egyptian people over to tyranny. The Muslim Brotherhood. Who were oppressing women and Christians. Fairness and equality under the law? Ask those Tea Party groups who were targeted by the IRS about fairness and equality under the law. The Constitution? That document of negative rights? The left hates it. And insists it’s a living document that can evolve over time to suit the needs of an expanding government. So they can do exactly what the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution to prevent from happening.

The Left endorses Unsound Policy Proposals with no Basis in Reality to improve their Chances of Winning Elections

The country is more conservative than liberal (see Liberal Self-Identification Edges Up to New High in 2013 by Jeffrey M. Jones posted 1/10/2014 on Gallup). Which is why liberals want state-funded pre-K to start indoctrinating our children as soon as possible. To get them away from their parents so they can begin the process of turning them into Democrat voters. It’s why kids are getting worthless social science and humanities degrees. To further indoctrinate them. Because their views are minority views. So they need to play loose with the facts. And lie. Which is easier to do with indoctrinated kids than educated adults. You’ll even hear Democrats talk about lowering the voting age. To get a few more years of voting out of these kids before they grow old and wise. And begin voting conservative. So they do what they can to dumb down education. Lie. Cheat. And buy as many votes as they can by giving away free stuff. And the thing they really want to give away is citizenship for illegal aliens. Who they are sure will be forever grateful. And show it by voting Democrat.

This explains the enthusiastic applause for unsound policy proposals that have no basis in reality. For the left is not interested in improving the lives of Americans. They just want to improve their chances of winning elections.

Week in Review

Some may think the Middle East is a homogenous region. Where all Muslim people are the same and think alike. But it’s not. And they’re not. There are huge divides between people in the Middle East. There isn’t just tension between the United States and this region. There’s tension between the different Muslim people. Something President Obama apparently didn’t know with his ‘let’s make nice to Muslims so our former enemies don’t hate us’ foreign policy. The geopolitical power struggles that exist everywhere else in the world exist, too, in the Middle East. And you just can’t treat everyone the same (see Obama Caught Between Polarized Allies in Egypt Crisis by Terry Atlas posted 4-19-2013 on Bloomberg).

U.S. regional allies such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey are backing opposite sides in the violent power struggle in Egypt, complicating U.S. diplomacy as the most populous Arab nation is torn by conflict.

In pressing Egypt’s interim government — and the military leaders who hold the real power — for political reconciliation with Islamist protesters, President Barack Obama is finding that U.S. influence is being challenged by financial and political support from Middle East countries pursuing their own stakes in Egypt’s future…

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have pledged billions of dollars in aid to the new Egyptian government. Qatar was a financial backer of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi’s administration, and Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced last week’s government crackdown on pro-Mursi protesters as a “massacre.”

“What Qatar and Turkey say is almost a 180-degree opposite of what the Emirates and the Saudis are saying publicly,” Katulis said.

There was a balance of power in the Middle East. And because there was a balance of power there was peace in the Middle East. And there was one man instrumental in keeping that peace. Hosni Mubarak. American friend and ally. And friend of our other friends and allies in the region. Those who want to maintain the balance of power. And the peace. And our friends were not happy when President Obama told Hosni Mubarak he had to go. Especially Saudi Arabia. Who is trying to check the spread of radical Islamism spreading in the region. Something Mubarak did. Because he and his allies and friends didn’t want radical Islamism spreading through the region. And neither does the United States.

Yet President Obama threw the one man that was instrumental in suppressing Islamist revolution in the region, by suppressing the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, under the bus. And did nothing as the Muslim Brotherhood rose to power. Even recognizing the anti-American Muslim Brotherhood as the legitimate ruler of Egypt. Despite warnings from every quarter. As the Muslim Brotherhood inspired/spawned Hamas, Hezbollah and al Qaeda. All anti-Western terrorist organizations. All anti-Israeli terrorist organizations. And all anti-American terrorist organizations. These are the people that President Obama said the U.S. can work with. Despite their credo being: “God is our objective, the Koran is our Constitution, the Prophet is our leader, struggle [jihad] is our way, and death for the sake of God is the highest of our aspirations.” These are the people that President Obama wanted to make nice to so they would stop hating us. Because he was naive and inexperienced. And tended to believe a little too much of the myth-making the American media was spreading about him.

The balance of power and the peace it brought is now gone. And the U.S. has allies falling on both sides of the Egyptian power struggle. What a mess. And it’s not isolated to Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood is spreading its tentacles throughout the region. Making the Middle East a tinderbox. Where it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better. Sadly.

Politics 101

The US supported Saddam Hussein because of the Iranian Revolution and the Iran Hostage Crisis

Remember Saddam Hussein? He was the dictator of Iraq that the US toppled from power. Because of intelligence reports that he had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). In particular chemical weapons. And the reason this intelligence was so believable is that Hussein had used chemical weapons. Against the Kurdish people in Halabja. In southern Kurdistan. An act of genocide. And the greatest chemical attack against a civilian population. As well as against the Iranians in the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988).

One of the requirements of the armistice that ended the Gulf War (1990-1991) was for Hussein to destroy his chemical weapons stockpile. And document that. With UN inspectors. Which never happened. So technically a state of war still existed when George W. Bush launched the Iraq War (2003-2011). Giving all the legal authorization he needed. But he still went to the UN. And asked the US Congress for permission to invade. Which they gave. And the US-led coalition went through the Iraqi defenses like a hot knife through butter. But never found those WMDs. Which was pretty unbelievable. But there was something that was even more unbelievable. Saddam Hussein, the brutal dictator the US toppled from power, used to be a US ally.

How can this be, you ask? How could the US ally themselves with such a bad, bad man? Because of Iran. Iran used to be an ally of the US. Then came the Iranian Revolution in 1979. And the Iran hostage crisis (November 1979-January 1981). This marked the time Iran began calling America the great Satan. And began their war against the West. Especially against the US. Hostile rhetoric. Some state-sponsored terrorism. And leading the anti-American sentiment throughout the Muslim world. So when Saddam Hussein invaded Iran the US threw in with him. Because the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

The Muslim Brotherhood had a Problem with Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak keeping the Peace with Israel

Now is this just petty? Or good foreign policy? The whole enemy of my enemy is my friend thing? Well, it turns out that it is good foreign policy. For the goal of foreign policy is to make things better for your country. And in the case of Iran and Iraq the choice was clear. To make things better for the US you allied with Iraq. Because Iran was going full Islamist against the US. So by helping Iraq wage war against Iran the less time and resources Iran had to further anti-American sentiment throughout the Muslim world. And should Iraq win the war it would bring Iran’s oppressive theocracy to an end. Making life better for the average Iranian. Especially for Iranian women.

But the Iran-Iraq war ended in a stalemate. After 8 years of bitter fighting. But when the war was over nothing changed. The border was right where it was before the war. But it wasn’t all for nothing. With the stalemate Iraq kept its Shia minority population from catching the Iranian bug. Leaving the Sunni majority safely in the majority. Something a lot of the Arab strongmen had in common. Including Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser. Who had chosen to align Egypt with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. But when Nasser died and Anwar Sadat took over he switched sides in the Cold War. Aligning Egypt with the United States. Even signing a peace treaty with Israel. Something the Shia minority population did not like in the least.

The U.S. poured money into Egypt. And made the Egyptian military a force to be reckoned with. Making Egypt the most modern Arab state. The most powerful. And the most secular/Western. Women could go to college and wear Western clothes. Like they could in Iran before the Iranian Revolution. Something the Shia minority population did not like. Nor their growing political party. The Muslim Brotherhood. Who really had a problem with Anwar Sadat making peace with Israel. As did the Egyptian Islamic Jihad movement. Who assassinated Sadat (1981). As they wanted to replace the Egyptian government with an Islamic state. Just like the Muslim Brotherhood wanted to do. Which is why when Hosni Mubarak succeeded Sadat one of the things he did was to continue the ban on the Muslim Brotherhood. And oppressed and jailed its members.

The Nations interested in World Peace favor the Egyptian Military over the Muslim Brotherhood

During the height of the Roman Empire there was great world peace. The Pax Romana (27 BC to 180 AD). Made possible by Rome’s massive military might. During the height of the British Empire there was great world peace. The Pax Britannica (1815–1914). Made possible by Britain’s massive military might. And their unchallenged sea power. Which let them maintain a balance of power. For any powerful nation that threatened the peace with thoughts of attacking a weaker neighbor could not attack that neighbor without taking on the mighty British Empire. For to maintain the Pax Britannica the British would intervene on the behalf of the weaker power. Allowing weaker nations to live next to more powerful nations without threat of invasion.

This is what a powerful military can give you. Peace. If that military power is controlled by a nation interested in keeping the peace. Which is what the Egyptian military gave Hosni Mubarak. Under his presidency there was peace in the Middle East. The Suez Canal was open to world trade. Egyptian tourism thrived. Egypt was a modern and secular nation. Women and Christians lived with the greatest liberty and safety during the Mubarak presidency. Because Mubarak kept the peace. Sometimes with brutality. Especially when it came to the Muslim Brotherhood. Which is why there was peace in the Middle East. And women and Christians in Egypt enjoyed liberty and safety. Because the people who wanted to take all of that away were prevented from doing just that. But then came the Arab Spring. And President Obama told Hosni Mubarak that he had to go. Instead of working with him to implement reforms to ease the tensions in Egypt.

In Egypt there are basically two political forces. The military. Which kept peace with Israel. And in the Middle East. Then there’s the Muslim Brotherhood. Who wants to remove Israel from the map. And install a theocracy in Egypt like they have in Iran. When Mubarak faced open rebellion he did not turn the military onto his people. He stepped down from power. And the Muslim Brotherhood rushed in to fill the political vacuum. Assuring the world that they wouldn’t do pretty much everything they did. And one of the last things the democratically-elected Mohamed Morsi did was to give himself dictatorial powers. Just as bad if not worse than Mubarak exercised. Only without the peace, liberty and prosperity enjoyed under Mubarak. Democratically elected or not a Morsi presidency did not foster democracy. Or peace. Just as the Muslim Brotherhood does not foster democracy or peace. Which leaves the other political power in Egypt. The military. Which is why Western nations and those nations interested in world peace favor the military over the Muslim Brotherhood. While the enemies of the West (i.e., Iran) support the Brotherhood. Because the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Politics 101

The Muslim Brotherhood did not like Hosni Mubarak or Peace in the Middle East

President Mohammed Morsi is no longer president of Egypt. Thanks to a bloodless military coup. Why did the military do this? Is there some power-hungry general that wanted to become dictator? No. The army stepped in to prevent the country from degenerating into civil war. As the people were unhappy. And angry. Filling Tahrir Square. Protesting the rule of President Morsi. Just as they protested the rule of Hosni Mubarak. Back during the Arab Spring. When democracy was flowering all over the Arab world.

The people were unhappy with Hosni Mubarak because of soaring unemployment. And his oppressive police state. To name two things. The people wanted jobs. And liberty. So they demanded democracy. And got it. They had free elections. And the people chose their new leader. Mohammed Morsi. Who since becoming president did nothing to improve the employment picture. And seemed more interested in imposing Sharia law on the Egyptian people than liberty. In fact, he seemed more interested in restricting liberty. Especially for Coptic Christians. And women.

Mubarak’s police state did a lot to suppress the Muslim Brotherhood. President Morsi’s party. The Muslim Brotherhood also wanted to impose Sharia law on the Egyptian people. And did not like Hosni Mubarak for making peace with Israel. Being secular. Making it harder to smuggle arms into the Gaza Strip to their friend. The terrorist group Hamas. A militant Palestinian Islamic movement dedicated to the destruction of Israel. And member of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. So the Brotherhood was no friend of peace in the Middle East. Or secularism. Which is why Mubarak brutally suppressed the Muslim Brotherhood. But now the Brotherhood was in power. And they would have their revenge. As they put Egypt on the road to Sharia law.

Both the Nazis and the Muslim Brotherhood lied to Rise to Power

Hosni Mubarak was a friend to America. Israel. And Middle East peace. He had his faults. But he was so critical to peace and stability in the region the United States and their friends and allies should have tried to help Mubarak reform Egypt. Instead of throwing him under the bus. Like President Obama did. Who spent his political career bashing George W. Bush for trying to bring democracy to the Middle East. And here he was. President Obama. Trying to bring democracy to Egypt. Telling our friend and ally, Hosni Mubarak, he had to go. When the only opposition party in Egypt was the friend of Hamas and Iran. The Muslim Brotherhood.

The conservatives warned President Obama about letting the Muslim Brotherhood rise to power. That it was not in America’s best interests. Israel’s. Or the Middle East’s. And the Brotherhood knew the Americans and Israelis and the West in general were uncomfortable with them in power. So to appease everyone they said not to worry. They weren’t interested in rising to power. And they wouldn’t run for the presidency. They just wanted to help the nation they loved, Egypt, to be free. That’s all. But then one thing led to another. And the Muslim Brotherhood rose to power. With one of their own becoming president. Just like conservatives warned would happen. And the Brotherhood promised wouldn’t happen. So what happened?

The Muslim Brotherhood, of course, lied. That’s how you rise to power when you want to change the country against the will of the people. Adolf Hitler didn’t rise to power through a military coup. The Nazis won elections. They didn’t campaign on the truth. They didn’t tell the people that they were going to invade Poland, Norway, North Africa, the Low Countries, France, Greece, the Soviet Union, etc. That they were going to build death camps. Or use a brutal secret police (the Gestapo) to terrorize their own people. For these aren’t the kinds of things people vote for. So you lie to the people. And say you want to do other things. Not the things people warned would happen if the Nazis rose to power. Especially those who read Mein Kampf. Where Hitler himself told the world what he planned on doing. It was all there. All you had to do was read his book.

Candidates who Promise Everything typically want to Change the Country Against the Will of the People

Iranian students protested the Shah of Iran. Just like the Egyptians protested Hosni Mubarak. Men and women. Including a lot of college graduates who could not find any work with their new degrees. They blamed the Shah. Another friend and ally of the United States. They demanded jobs. And liberty. A democracy of the people. And that’s exactly what they got. Then they voted for an Islamic republic. And those people who protested to overthrow the Shah lost everything they wanted. Especially the women. Who had fewer liberties after the Iranian Revolution than they had under the Shah of Iran. During the elections the Islamists didn’t say they were going to do this. For people demanding liberty and jobs are not going to vote for someone promising to take away even more of their liberties. So they lied. Allowing them to rise to power. To change the country against the will of the people.

Removing the Muslim Brotherhood from power is good for the United States. For Israel. And for peace in the Middle East. Because with the Muslim Brotherhood in power Iran had a good friend in Egypt. To help expand their hegemony in the region. Shiite rule in a predominantly Sunni area. And what was once a more secular area. Before the Arab Spring. Some expressed concern about the military removing a democratically elected president. Of course they must express this publically. Especially when they’re trying to spread democracy. But there is a difference between good democracy and bad democracy. Bad democracy is the kind that is only transitory. A tool. A means to an end. When you want to change a country against the will of the people. And once you achieve the end you can dispose of that ridiculous thing called democracy. Like the Nazis did. Like the Iranians did. And like the Muslim Brotherhood was well along the way in doing.

This is something people need to learn. Not to trust those running for office. Especially those who promise everything the people want. You see, there is a reason why the people don’t have everything they want. It’s just not possible. It’s too costly. And you just can’t please everyone. So no matter how much you give the people there will still be some who want something else. Always. Which is good for people running for office. As they always have something to lie about. That is, to make a promise they can’t keep. Or simply have no intention of keeping. Because they want to change the country against the will of the people.

Week in Review

Before the Arab Spring there was the Green Revolution in Iran in 2009. Where thousands used social media to gather in protests over what they claimed were voting irregularities that kept President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power. President Obama did not support the Green Revolution. Despite Iran being a sponsor of terrorism, an enemy of the United States and the greatest threat to regional stability. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suppressed the uprisings. And jailed some of the opposition. Where some have made claims of torture and rape. But as closed a society Iran is these claims have been unsubstantiated. Though we have the word of the ruling regime that crushed the rebellion that there was no torture or rape.

When the Arab Spring kicked off in Tunisia in 2010 President Obama announced a change in policy. The U.S. would support change in the Arab world instead of stability. When the Arab Spring spread to Egypt in 2011 President Obama told Hosni Mubarak that he had to step down from power. Despite being a stalwart U.S. ally. An enemy to al Qaeda. And being the anchor of stability in the Middle East and North Africa. Now the Muslim Brotherhood is in power there. Who has close ties with Iran.

When the Arab Spring spread to Libya President Obama supported the opposition based in Benghazi. Despite Colonel Muammar Gaddafi renouncing terrorism. And being an ally of America in their War on Terror. Like Mubarak he oppressed radical Islamists including al Qaeda. Which explains why al Qaeda was part of the opposition trying to overthrow Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. They hated him. And his oppression of anti-western radical Islamists. President Obama supported the opposition. Gave them weapons. And helped enforce a no-fly zone. In 2012 Islamists attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. Killing 4 Americans. Including the Libyan ambassador. Chris Stevens. Perhaps killed with weapons we brought into Libya.

When the Arab Spring spread to Syria President Obama did not support the opposition. Despite Syria being a sponsor of terrorism. And a close ally of Iran. As Syria broke down into civil war al Qaeda joined the opposition. Making any U.S. support now even more complicated. However Syria turns out it will be a foreign policy failure. In fact the foreign policy of President Obama has been to abandon U.S. allies that bring stability to the region. While not getting involved in uprisings in states hostile to the U.S. Bringing great instability to the Middle East and Northern Africa. And beyond (see Police: 7 foreigners kidnapped in north Nigeria by SHEHU SAULAWA and JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press, posted 2/17/2013 on Yahoo! News).

Gunmen attacked a camp for a construction company in rural northern Nigeria, killing a guard and kidnapping seven foreign workers from Britain, Greece, Italy Lebanon and the Philippines, authorities said Sunday, in the biggest kidnapping yet in a region under attack by Islamic extremists…

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the abductions, though Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north has been under attack by the radical Islamic sect known as Boko Haram in the last year and a half. The country’s weak central government has been unable to stop the group’s bloody guerrilla campaign of shootings and bombings. The sect is blamed for killing at least 792 people in 2012 alone, according to an AP count.

Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is sacrilege” in the Hausa language of Nigeria’s north, has demanded the release of all its captive members and called for strict Shariah law to be implemented across the entire country. The sect has killed both Christians and Muslims in their attacks, as well as soldiers and security forces…

Foreigners, long abducted by militant groups and criminal gangs for ransom in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta, have become increasingly targeted in Nigeria’s north as the violence has grown. However, abductions of foreigners in the north have seen hostages regularly killed…

Foreign embassies in Nigeria have issued travel warnings regarding northern Nigeria for months. Worries about abductions have increased in recent weeks with the French military intervention in Mali, as its troops and Malian soldiers try to root out Islamic fighters who took over that nation’s north in the months following a military coup. Last week, the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, put out a warning following the killings of polio workers in the northern city of Kano and the killing of the North Korean doctors.

President Obama campaigned in 2012 that al Qaeda was on the ropes. While blaming the death of Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans on a spontaneous uprising because of a YouTube video. Which if it was it means the average Libyan on the street in Benghazi walks around carrying heavy weapons. Which is highly unlikely. Then again, the opposition the U.S. supported in Benghazi included al Qaeda. So maybe they did walk around the streets of Benghazi with heavy weapons. Just waiting for dates with symbolic meaning (9/11) to attack Americans.

President Obama got what he wanted. Change instead of stability. For there is little stability in the Middle East or North Africa. And now in West Africa. Where Islamists and al Qaeda affiliates are reaching into Algeria. Mali. And Nigeria. Radical Islamists are spreading their reach throughout the Middle East and Africa and in other parts of the world. Fueled by the decline of U.S. influence. And a rise in Iranian influence. The winner in the Arab Spring? It would appear that it is the radical Islamists that are benefitting most from the Arab Spring. While the people in these countries go from a somewhat western culture of liberty (especially for women) towards oppressive theocracies. Just as the Iranian people did during the Iranian Revolution in 1979. No doubt the Iranian women who protested the Shah of Iran rue the day they ever joined that protest movement. For they have none of the liberties they enjoyed under the Shah.

Guess this is what happens when you abandon your friends and help your enemies. Your friends suffer while your enemies grow stronger. And the world grows a more dangerous place.

Week in Review

Two years ago, during the Arab Spring, President Obama told President Hosni Mubarak he had to go. The Egyptian people wanted democracy. And Mubarak was in the way. So the Mubarak government fell. Even though he was an ally of the United States. Which was rather odd for an American president to ask an American ally to step down from power. Especially when the people standing in the wings to take over that power are enemies of the United States. But President Obama did. And he took credit for this. Proud for his part in the Arab Spring. And how did all of that work out? Like most people thought it would (see Tear gas fired by police in Egypt posted 1/26/2013 on Sky News).

Police in the Egyptian city of Alexandria have fired tear gas at protesters, witnesses say, as nationwide rallies mark the second anniversary of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak…

Tens of thousands took to the streets across the country to protest against Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, who is accused of failing to work for the goals of the revolution that ousted Mubarak and consolidating power in the hands of his powerful Muslim Brotherhood.

That’s right, Egypt went from being a U.S. ally to aligning with Hamas and Iran. Enemies of the United States. And enemies of Israel. Greatly destabilizing the Mideast. For what? Even the Egyptian people are unhappy with the outcome. At least the ones who want Democracy. The Islamists, though, are quite happy with the Muslim Brotherhood in power. And hope to see them take Egypt down the same road Iran took in 1979. Where the Islamists rose up in power. Rounded up the democratic protestors. And turned the country into a theocracy. Something that may happen in Egypt. Thanks to an American president that told Hosni Mubarak he had to go.

Week in Review

The Left unleashed a war against Republicans by claiming they were waging a war against women. They shouted from the rooftops the evil that would befall women should Republicans get elected. Scaring women with the specter of having to pay for their own birth control. And paying for their own abortions. Scaring a lot of women with the fear that should Republicans get elected they would force women into marriages against their will. Raising a family against their will. Cooking, cleaning and having sex with husbands against their will. So women voted for President Obama. To keep their birth control and their abortions. So they wouldn’t ever have to get married. So they could have happy fulfilling careers. Instead of a loving family. So they can die alone some day.

In the post-Mubarak era, activists and protesters have reported many particularly violent assaults on women. Some experts allege the government and security officials are failing to take the problem seriously. More than 700 claims of harassment were filed across Egypt over the four-day Id al-Adha holiday in late October.

“It is not a country of law, not a state of law anymore. It has given men a chance to harass women without being accused,” said Afaf Marie, director of the Egyptian Association for Community Participation and Enhancement, an NGO.

Some activists fear that women’s rights will suffer under the rule of President Mohammed Morsi, who is an Islamist.

Government inaction has allowed the problem to spiral out of control, Heba Morayef, director of Human Rights Watch for the Middle East and North Africa, told NBC News. Police no longer inspire fear as they did before the revolution. In addition, locals say it appears there are fewer police on the increasingly lawless streets — and often none in Tahrir Square.

“The state is failing to respond,” she said. “Men don’t have to worry about being caught.”

Interestingly, President Obama helped bring President Mohammed Morsi to power. By telling President Hosni Mubarak that he had to step down from power. When there was no organized opposition save the Muslim Brotherhood. Who said they would not try to seize power. Who the American Left said they would not seize power. That it wouldn’t be another Iran. But in the resulting power vacuum left with the fall of Mubarak the Muslim Brotherhood stepped into that vacuum. And now their man, Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist, is now President of Egypt.

And any women who dare to leave their homes alone are being sexually assaulted. As the Muslim Brotherhood want women in Egypt to be like women in Iran. Oppressed and subservient. And everything the Left accused the Republicans of wanting to do with women they’re actually doing in Egypt. And worse. Including sexual harassment and rape in public. But where is the American Left? Keeping their eyes on those rascally Republicans. While their sisters suffer unspeakable cruelties in Egypt. Suffering in large part due to the actions of President Obama and his misguided Mideast policies. Who helped to make Egypt a less safe place for women. By telling Mubarak he had to go.

Week in Review

Hosni Mubarak kept the Muslim Brotherhood out of power when he ruled Egypt. Suppressing Iranian influence in Egypt. He even jailed Mohamed Morsi. A leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood. When the Arab Spring came along President Obama stated that long-time US ally Mubarak had to go. Even though the only organized opposition was the brotherhood. With their Iranian ties. And their ties to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. That terrorist group and branch of the Muslim Brotherhood that likes to fire missiles into Israel. Threatening regional stability.

So abandoning Mubarak was risky business. For the likely power to fill the resulting power void in Egypt would not be friendly to Israel, the US or regional stability. But the naysayers, and President Obama, brushed those concerns aside. For this wasn’t their fathers’ Muslim Brotherhood. This was a peace-loving brotherhood. Who wanted only democracy. Just like those Iranians who seized power in Iran after the 1979 Revolution. And installed a radical Islamic theocracy. But that wasn’t going to happen in Egypt. No, the Arab Spring was making the Middle East and North Africa safe for democracy. At least according to President Obama. Of course, those on the ground in Egypt would beg to differ (see Egypt’s President Morsi faces judicial revolt over decree by Tom Perry, Reuters, posted 11/24/2012 on The Vancouver Sun).

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi faced a rebellion from judges who accused him on Saturday of expanding his powers at their expense, deepening a crisis that has triggered violence in the street and exposed the country’s deep divisions.

The Judges’ Club, a body representing judges across Egypt, called for a strike during a meeting interrupted with chants demanding the “downfall of the regime” – the rallying cry in the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak last year.

Morsi’s political opponents and supporters, representing the divide between newly empowered Islamists and their critics, called for rival demonstrations on Tuesday over a decree that has triggered concern in the West.

Issued late on Thursday, it marks an effort by Morsi to consolidate his influence after he successfully sidelined Mubarak-era generals in August. The decree defends from judicial review decisions taken by Morsi until a new parliament is elected in a vote expected early next year.

It also shields the Islamist-dominated assembly writing Egypt’s new constitution from a raft of legal challenges that have threatened the body with dissolution, and offers the same protection to the Islamist-controlled upper house of parliament.

Guess it’s their fathers’ Muslim Brotherhood after all. Boy, what a mistake it was throwing Hosni Mubarak under the bus. We should have worked with other Arab states friendly with Egypt who oppose the Iranian threat in the region to find a better solution than giving Egypt to Iran. For people may have complained about the restrictions of their freedoms under Mubarak but they haven’t seen anything yet. Just ask the Iranians who lived through the 1979 Revolution now living under a radical Islamic theocracy.

Week in Review

George W. Bush was criticized severely for nation building and trying to spread democracy. Those who criticized Bush praise President Obama for bringing democracy to Egypt. Of course, it’s not quite the same democracy Bush was trying to spread in Iraq. He wanted a democracy that wouldn’t vote in a theocracy like they did in Iran. Some 30 years on Iran still does not have a democracy because of that oppressive theocracy they voted in. Now Egypt appears to be heading down the Iranian road (see Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood says new constitution must be based on Islamic Shariah law by Associated Press posted 10/31/2012 on The Washington Post).

Egypt’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood says Islamic Shariah law must be the basis of Egypt’s new constitution, and legislation must be based on Islamic penal code.

The Brotherhood said in a statement Wednesday that a country ruled by Shariah would not become a theocracy. President Mohammed Morsi comes from the Brotherhood.

This is not good for the US. It will be good for Iran. But is sure won’t be good for the US. Or Egyptian women. Just ask the Iranian women.

Given the choice between oppression under Hosni Mubarak or oppression under a theocracy I think most democracy-loving people would choose the Mubarak oppression. For few will argue that life for women in Mubarak Egypt was far better than it was/is in theocratic Iran.

Democracy fails when the wrong people rise to power and vote it away. Which is what happened in Iran. And looks like it may happen in Egypt. And with the al Qaeda-trouble in Benghazi it may be well underway there. Ultimately it may turn out that the Arab Spring was not good for democracy. It just threw out the dictators who oppressed those who wanted to make their countries even more oppressive. And the biggest losers in all of this? The women in the Middle East. Who yearn for the freedom and values they enjoy in the West. Like they enjoyed under the 8 years of George W. Bush, the 4 your years under George H.W. Bush and the 8 years under Ronald Reagan. Something these women would gladly trade for every chance they got.

You want to talk about a war on women? I give you the Arab Spring. And the march towards Iranian theocracy. Something the policies of the Obama administration have helped along with their foreign policy decisions in Egypt and Libya. And their snubs to Israel. The country with by far the greatest women’s rights in the Middle East. A country that already had a woman, Golda Meir, serve as the leader of their country. Perhaps if the women of the Middle East were demanding birth control and access to abortion (women’s rights American style) the Obama administration would not advance policy that is so detrimental to women there. Such as helping to make the way clear for a theocracy in Egypt. But as these women want things that are not vagina-centered (freedom of speech, escape from second-class status, the right not to be beaten or murdered for not behaving, to be able to go to school, get a job, etc.) this war on women is not heard here by the Obama administration. And these women will probably soon have the same fate the Iranian women had. Another country where a poor foreign policy decision (not to support the Green Revolution) has condemned women to further oppression there. While making the world a less safe place. As the Iranians are moving closer to having a nuclear weapon.